A re-evaluation of the phonological similarity effect in adults' short-term memory of words and nonwords

The phonological similarity effect (PSE) was studied in two tasks of serial recall, in one task of serial recognition and one item identification task . PSE occurred only in the former three tasks involving memory of order whe n study items were words and nonwords with an associative connectedness to longterm memory. Nonwords that, according to a reaction time assessment of associative value, were less well connected to long-term memory mechanisms, were not sensitive to phonological similarity. These results are discussed in relation to contemporary models of short-term memory that explain the P SE as a result of confusions of items that are similarly encoded in a phono logical layer. This layer is identified as a higher-level phonological spac e that is accessed by words and nonwords of high associative value and not by nonwords of low associative value.